1980-02-05 Protest Against U.S. Immigration Policy

Two legislators from the Netherlands present Henry Waxman, a liberal Democratic member of the US Congress, a petition signed by an overwhelming majority of the members of the Netherlands Parliament. The petition calls on the United States to stop discriminating against foreign visitors based on their sexual orientation.

1980-06-13 Protest March in Sao Paolo

After the police arrest over 1500 gay men, transwomen, and prostitutes in downtown Sao Paolo as part of a “clean up” effort, 500 people publicly demonstrate to protest the police action. Marching through the streets of the city, they chanted “Down with repression. More love and more desire.”

1980-08-14 African American gay man nominated for Vice President

Virginia Apuzzo and Bill Kraus, delegates to the Democratic National Convention in New York City, placed in nomination the name of Mel Boozer for Vice President of the United States. Boozer, an African American gay man who was then president of the Gay Activists Alliance of Washington, D.C., urged the Democratic Party to stand up for fair and equal treatment of gay men and lesbians, saying “”Bigotry is bigotry. Discrimination is discrimination.”